Types of marketing tools. Effective marketing analysis tools. Tasks at the stage of choosing marketing tools

According to the stages of development market economy and the evolution of practical approaches to marketing activities, various conceptual approaches to marketing tools were formed and replaced each other. It is possible to identify the main conceptual approaches, ideas and tools, the evolution of which is presented in Table 1.2.

(approximately)	Concept marketing	Leading Idea	Basic tools	the main objective
	Production	I produce what I can	cost, performance	Production improvement, sales growth, profit maximization
	Commodity	I produce quality products	Commodity policy	Improvement of consumer properties of goods
	Marketing	Develop sales network, distribution channels	Sales policy	Intensify sales of goods through marketing efforts to promote and sell goods
	Traditional	I produce what the consumer needs	Marketing mix (marketing mix), consumer research	Meeting the needs and demands of target markets
	Socioethical	I produce what the consumer needs, taking into account the requirements of society	The marketing mix, the study of the social and environmental consequences of the production and consumption of manufactured goods and services	Satisfying the needs and requirements of target markets, subject to the conservation of human, material, energy and other resources of society, environmental protection
Since the 1990s	Relationship Marketing	I produce what satisfies consumers, the requirements of society and the interests of business partners	Methods of coordination, integration, network analysis, complex "marketing mix"	Meeting the needs of consumers, the interests of partners and the state in the process of commercial and non-commercial interaction

Marketing is characterized by a conscious, active, systematic study of the market and the impact on it. To do this, activities are carried out in certain directions on which decisions are made to achieve marketing goals:

• - marketing research;
• - design of the product and assortment;
• - price policy;
• - distribution;
• - communications.

As noted above, in the second half of the XX century. the concept of the marketing mix was developed, which became known as the "marketing mix" (English: marketing-mix), because it has many options for choosing options both inside strategic concepts marketing, as well as a combination of its methods. This functional classification has not lost its significance even today, in the era of the innovative economy, although it does not cover the whole variety of marketing approaches. Initially, it was customary to single out four success factors, or basic tools marketing mix- 4P (see figure 1.1):

• - product (English: product) - features of the product range, its capabilities Maintenance etc.;
• - price (price) - price levels and differentiation, discount system, payment terms;
• - promotion (promotion of goods on the market) - the organization of sales, the choice of sales channels and delivery methods, sales promotion, advertising;
• - place (place) - geographical and physical characteristics of the sales process.

Figure 1.1. 4P Marketing Mix Tools

Based on this concept, the structure of marketing tools and functions in the company was formed. The main difference between marketing functions and others managerial functions is that the functions of marketing are aimed at organizing and implementing the process of exchange and interaction between the company, its customers and partners (see table 1.3).

The structure of marketing management functions

Table 1.3

Marketing research	Research of external and internal environment business; analysis of industry markets and their segments; study of consumer motivation and behavior; study of distribution and sales systems; product research; competitor research and benchmarking; demand and sales forecast, etc.
Commodity policy	Development of goods and assortment policy; development new products; improving the quality characteristics and competitiveness of goods and services, etc.
Price policy	Development of strategy and tactics of pricing; setting prices depending on the degree of innovation and market segment; competitor price analysis; price forecast, etc.
Distribution and marketing	Development of marketing and distribution policy; analysis of the trade and distribution network and selection of distribution channels; organization of warehousing and transportation, control of commodity flows, etc.
Promotion through integrated marketing communications (advertising, sales promotion, etc.)	Policy development for integrated marketing communications; selection of effective tools and technologies for product promotion; brand policy; organization of public relations, etc.
Marketing audit and controlling	Organization of management of marketing activities in the company; controlling; development of organizational structures of the marketing service and optimization management decisions in the field of marketing; evaluation of the effectiveness of the marketing service, etc.

These four components of the marketing mix are the marketing tools with which he seeks to influence buyers. It is necessary that from the point of view of buyers, the purpose of each marketing tool is presented as an increase in the benefit of the consumer. To determine the benefits of buyers, scientists have proposed a consumer marketing mix 4C, which corresponds to the 4P of the seller (see table 1.4).

Marketing Mix Compliance

Table 1.4

Thus, companies that communicate effectively with consumers and are able to meet their needs in terms of economy and convenience of purchasing goods win the competition. In other words, the 4Ps must be in harmony with the 4Cs.

Later, due to the active use of marketing technologies by service enterprises, the marketing mix was supplemented with new elements, since services have a number of features in production and sale. A 7P marketing mix has emerged, in which traditional areas have been supplemented with three Ps:

• - people (eng.: people) - all people directly or indirectly involved in the process of providing a service, such as employees and other customers;
• - process (English: process) - procedures, mechanisms and sequences of actions that ensure the provision of services;
• - physical evidence (English: physical evidence) - the environment, the environment in which the service is provided; actions that inform the target category of customers about the product or service, about its merits and persuade them to purchase; tangible items that help promote and provide a service.

Marketing decision-making areas can be divided into strategic and operational areas according to the degree of urgency. This is the so-called marketing management. From the point of view of the management organization process, one can single out: planning, decision-making, marketing implementation and marketing controlling. Speaking about the content of marketing, first of all, it is necessary to understand which areas should be covered by marketing decisions and in what directions these decisions should be taken (see table 1.5).

Areas and directions of marketing solutions

Table 1.5

Activity companies	Areas of Marketing Solutions	Directions of strategic decisions
1. Bringing innovation to market	Conditions for entering the market	The decision to bring the innovation to market
	Actual positioning of innovation	Where to compete (region, target segment) and when to enter the market
	Extraordinary positioning of innovation	How to compete: developing brand and pricing policies
2.Fixation in the market and market expansion	Long-term concept of innovation development	Spreading innovation (development of new markets) Modifications Innovations (product differentiation and coverage of new market segments)

Marketing should cover all successive stages in the formation of consumer decisions (see Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2. Stages of consumer decision making

Successful completion of these stages requires active marketing support at all stages. Constant monitoring of the market situation, consumer surveys will reveal how effectively marketing services work, ensuring the transition of a potential consumer from one stage to another.

If a significant decrease in the share and number of consumers is found as the various stages from obtaining information to making a purchase decision and, finally, developing loyalty to this innovation, it is necessary to analyze the reasons for this. The reasons may be different. For example, at each stage there may be barriers associated with the company's marketing activities (see table 1.6).

Possible marketing barriers to consumer purchasing decisions

Table 1.6

Stages of consumer acceptance of a new product	Common Marketing Mistakes
Consumer awareness
Consumer interest	Positioning errors leading to a poor perception of the benefits and degree of product innovation
The first experience of using innovation in consumption	Lack of affordability in the target segment, insufficient service and information support
Formation of consumer loyalty to a new product and a new product brand	Insufficient incentive to repeat purchases of a new product. Insufficiency of promotions or, on the contrary, their focus only on price comparisons. Lack of communication support

New trends in marketing. The world-famous marketing theorist F. Kotler, who published his book Fundamentals of Marketing several decades ago, which has become the “bible of marketing” for many researchers and practitioners, formulated at the beginning of the 21st century. new trends in marketing, reflecting the new processes taking place in the innovative information economy. It includes the following changes in the list of new trends in marketing 1:

• - from "make and sell" marketing to "hear and respond" marketing;
• - from asset ownership to brand ownership;
• - from vertical integration to virtual integration (outsourcing);
• - from mass marketing to consumer-oriented marketing;

" Cm.: Kotler F. 300 key marketing questions: Philip Kotler answers. Moscow: Olimp-Business, 2006.

• - from activities only in the market to additional work in cyberspace;
• - from competition for market share to competition for a particular consumer;
• - from efforts to attract a new consumer to the preservation and satisfaction of an existing one;
• - from transaction marketing to customer relationship marketing;
• - from intermediary marketing to direct marketing;
• - from a marketing monologue to a dialogue with the consumer;
• - from separate planning of types of communications to integrated marketing communications;
• - from single-channel marketing to multi-channel;
• - from marketing focused on the product to marketing focused on the interests of the consumer;
• - from marketing activities by one department to marketing, which is carried out by all employees of the company;
• - from exploitation of suppliers and distributors to partnership with them.

The acceleration of the pace of changes in the economy has a very strong influence on the company's marketing. Successful companies should therefore deal trend monitoring and develop scenarios possible developments, think about how changes might affect the company, and plan for response.

There have been many changes in marketing. The development has gone from mass marketing to market segment marketing, then to niche marketing, and from there to individualized marketing. The role of service maintenance grew, skills in creating trademarks and in brand management as a financial asset. More efficient use Internet Marketing. Effective Marketing became one of the central links of the new balanced scorecard.

Traditionally, marketing activities have involved the professional use of the following set of tools: sales representatives, advertising, sales promotion, and market research. Every company needs to master these tools to perfection. But now marketing departments also need to learn new skills, including brand building, customer relationship management, email marketing and database discovery, telemarketing, experience marketing, as well as profitability analysis of a particular product, market segment, distribution channel and consumer.

A new concept is “experience marketing”. Sellers are increasingly having to think more than just selling a product or service, but also about designing and delivering a positive experience to the consumer. Starbucks, for example, offers its customers "coffee experiences" in attractive coffee shops where they can escape the hustle and bustle of the modern world. Bookselling chains open in their bookstores cafes, provide visitors with the opportunity to read new books directly in trading floors, having equipped them with tables and chairs for this purpose, organize lectures and presentations. The climbing equipment retailer provides a climbing wall and a simulated waterfall in its stores so that customers can experience and feel the quality of the equipment it sells. Company by retail fishing equipment offers in its stores to customers to try out the rod in the pool with fish. All of this suggests that salespeople should take into account the positive experiences consumers already have when purchasing a product or service and find a way to mimic those experiences.

There is a strong general trend in modern marketing in favor of customization goods and services. The first attempts to offer customers a choice of computer configuration (Dell), cut jeans (Levi Strauss) and other firms were successful. This trend is especially widespread in the B2B (Business to Business) segment of industrial goods: for example, manufacturers complete trucks in accordance with the individual requirements of buyers. Customization affects many innovative products and services. New relationship trends in marketing are shown in Figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3. New marketing paradigm

There is no doubt that the more we know about each individual customer, the greater our chance of winning him over. This is the basis of the popularity of relationship marketing and CRM systems.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is relatively new marketing strategy with active use information technologies, which includes the compilation and use of extensive databases and allows the company to collect and process information about customers in order to create mutually beneficial relationships based on a personal approach.

However, the question arises: can the proceeds from the sale of goods produced to individual requirements of customers cover higher costs, for example, for collecting and processing information about each individual customer? A company must carefully consider the decision to enter the market with customized products, especially with a costly innovation. Possible customer relationship development programs are shown in Table 1.7.

Possible customer relationship development programs

Table 1.7

Programs, validity periods		Funds
Program stimulation	Increase reduction	Separate price and non-price	Short-term increase in sales
Short	stocks, rising interest	Events
Programs loyalty clients.	Identification and retention of key	Branding, CRM and more	stable permanent
Regular, period duration 2-3 years	clients	establishing relations	"lifelong value"
Partnership programs.	Joint activities to create	Creation partner	A joint creation values,
permanent, long-term	"added value" for the market	relations	increase mutual

What challenges and challenges do marketers face now?

• 1. Adequate measurement required financial results marketing programs. Marketers must develop scorecards to demonstrate the results of certain spending and campaigns. CEOs of companies that spend huge marketing budgets need to learn from marketers not only how much knowledge, awareness or preference has resulted from marketing programs, they need to know how sales, profits and share prices have changed.
• 2. Constant monitoring and collection of integrated information about important buyers is required. Buyers come into contact with the company in many ways - by e-mail or regular mail, by phone, in person, etc. But if this dialogue is not recorded, the company will not have a complete picture of a potential buyer or client and, as a result, will not be able to make a quality offer to him.
• 3. It is necessary to use marketing as the basis and driving force of the company's market strategy. The function of the marketing department is not only the promotion of goods. When mastering innovations, all elements of the marketing policy must be coordinated and approved in full agreement with each other.
• 4. It is necessary to constantly look for ways to confront competitors offering goods more than High Quality at a lower price. For the Russian economy, which is becoming more and more open, this is becoming very relevant due to the influx of cheap imported goods and lack of confidence in domestic production. Rationalization of production and management, outsourcing and franchising help in solving this problem.
• 5. The manufacturing company must cope with the growing influence of network distribution companies. Giants retail control an increasing share of the retail market. Many of these companies offer products own brands, whose image is no worse than national ones, but at lower prices, which leads to a reduction in the profitability of domestic producers, reducing their chances of successfully mastering innovations.

The main methods of protection are the creation of a powerful brand and the formation of an audience of loyal consumers who are ready to remain committed to the brand in a rapidly changing market environment. For modern companies hard to survive in market environment where the markets themselves are changing faster thanks to innovation than the marketing strategies of companies. Not all companies can survive in an innovative business environment. This is confirmed by the high level of bankruptcies and the increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions. The companies that can create and deliver the most value to the consumer survive.

• 2 For more details, see: Bagiev G. L., Tarasevich V. M., Ann X. Marketing. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2007.

In 2018, actively promoting your business online is the norm. If you don't, you're throwing money down the drain.

But here's the problem: Internet marketing itself, at first glance, may seem rather complicated and incomprehensible. Until now, some entrepreneurs are afraid to step on its seemingly shaky ground and refuse to implement those tools that have already proven their effectiveness in practice.

The purpose of this article is to debunk the myth about the complexity of Internet marketing and present it in the context of the main strategies. The list included only those that are working now and will be effective in the future. No tricks or secrets.

There are only 7 such strategies, but in each one you can highlight a lot of interesting tactics and actions that will help you reach a new level.

Content Marketing

Content is the backbone of the entire Internet. Almost everything you see on the Web is content in one form or another: for example, videos or photos of cats, smart (and not so) blog posts, infographics, etc.

Google gives a great definition of what content marketing is:

“This is a type of marketing that involves creating and sharing online content (videos, blogs, social media posts) that does not overtly promote a brand, but draws attention to it and stimulates interest in its products or services.”

2. Search engine optimization of site pages (internal optimization)

In this step, you optimize the content of the page and its HTML elements. When preparing content for a landing page, you need to try to get such material, the chances of which to take the first lines in the search results will be quite high.

3. External optimization

External optimization will also help you improve the position of the site in search results, but for this you do not have to do anything on the site itself.

When experts start talking about external optimization, they usually mean link building, increasing the number of resources that link to your site in their materials. In addition, however, external optimization should be understood as promotion of content through social networks.

4. Technical SEO

Technical SEO is a non-content optimization technique that also makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index.

Technical SEO usually starts with a technical SEO audit.

Conversion Optimization

The main task of marketing is to get conversions. Therefore, it is quite logical to be the first to do things that directly affect the number of conversions. This is the basis of what is called (CRO).

CRO can be thought of as a combination of UI/UX (user interface/user experience) and copywriting. With copywriting, you deliver the message you want and then use design elements (UI/UX) to make it easier for the visitor to achieve their goals and ultimately convert.

Now for some basic conversion optimization strategies.

1. Conversion focused web design

Web design is where conversion optimization starts. Sorry, but if your site looks like it's still 2001 (like the Wikipedia page in the example below), you'll have a hard time converting anyone.

You want people to trust your landing page. Here's what you need for this:

• modern design;
• social proof;
• reviews, reviews;
• Contact Information;
• logos famous companies with whom you work;
• social trust signals (eg number of followers, etc.).

All landing page templates in our Gallery meet all the above standards and are suitable as a basis for creating your first landing page in .

2. Headline Optimization

Are you optimizing your landing page for organic search or contextual advertising, headline improvement is one of the simplest actions and also has the highest ROI.

First, look at what headlines your competitors are using and come up with similar ones. As soon as you have the first headlines at your disposal, you can start testing.

3. Calls to Action (CTA)

A call to action is a way of telling a website visitor what action they should take and why. The Netflix home page is a great example of a simple yet effective CTA.

4. Social proof

It embodies the idea that the chance to convert a visitor into a buyer is higher in the presence of specific trust signals (number of subscribers/followers, the presence of "likes", positive reviews, reviews, etc.).

5. A/B testing (UI and UX elements)

What color button should you use: red or blue? Should it be in the middle of the screen or, for example, on the right? A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a tool that will help you get answers to these questions and more.

Social media

Today (social media marketing, SMM) is a well-known tool for promoting Internet marketing. But there is one misconception about it: supposedly the main and only goal of SMM is to remain visible to its current audience, to be in touch with it. This is not true.

But how to do that? That's right - with content. Damn good content.
And there are some great tactics for that.

1. Choose the right channel

If you want to appeal to an older male audience, Pinterest is not worth using. You won't see results. Simply because it is a predominantly female social network.

In other words, before you start spending time marketing in in social networks, make sure you select a channel that is popular with your audience.

2. Social Listening (monitoring of social media)

You may not perceive social media as a channel of service customer support, but this is one of the best options.

Reputation management through an active social presence can save your business from negative press or, on the contrary, help you get the most out of any event favorable for your business (i.e. “hype”).

Paid advertising

Sometimes in marketing, you have to pay to get results.

One of the most famous platforms in Russia - Google Adwords, Yandex.Direct, Vkontakte and Facebook, but there are hundreds of others that you can test.

Most marketing channels don't start making money for you until after a while, but the great thing about paid advertising is that it can deliver results right away.

Below you will learn about some of the most famous paid advertising platforms.

1. Google Adwords

Google Adwords is a form of paid advertising, also known as PPC (pay-per-click, pay per click), where you pay every time someone clicks on your ad shown on the Google Search or Display Network. Yandex has a similar network.

Yandex.Direct, like Adwords, can be extremely effective in driving customers to your website or landing page.

2. YouTube ads

YouTube has over a billion users who watch over a billion hours of video every day. it great amount people you can reach with your ads.

Advertising on social networks Vkontakte and Facebook is known to be an effective and inexpensive form of digital advertising. When it comes to discussing the most effective internet marketing strategies, this type of advertising tends to be one of the first to be named because it is known to get results.

4. Algorithmic advertising purchase (programmatic advertising)

In simple terms, it is the purchase of digital advertising space through technology that automates the buying process. The advertiser purchases ads through a demand-side platform (DSP).

The data management platform (DMP) is used to collect data with subsequent analysis and audience segmentation. These audiences are often routed to the DSP in order for ads to be more targeted.

Wikipedia's definition of retargeting is:

If someone lands on your landing page by clicking on a PPC ad and then leaves without converting, it's possible they'll never come back. But with retargeting, you can keep showing that person an ad for the product they viewed on your site.

Influencer Marketing

And all because you trust your friends. After all, they are friends. Actually, that's how it works. The same bloggers stop being strangers on the internet and become people you trust.

According to Wikipedia,

“This is a form of marketing that focuses on influencers rather than the target market as a whole. It defines the persons who have influence on potential buyers, and orients marketing activities around them.

Influencer marketing can deliver amazing results, but only if your product is really, really good. A cool, in-demand product or service is your best marketing strategy.

Putting It All Together: Digital Marketing Funnels (and Measuring Results)

There are many strategies, and they are different, but is it important for you to combine them into a single plan, which will ensure the profitability of the business?

Building a Marketing Funnel

Situations when a person visits your landing page for the first time or sees an ad immediately buys your product are quite rare. Everything is always much more complicated and confusing.

The marketing funnel takes someone who knows absolutely nothing about your brand and turns them into buyer status.

A typical funnel looks like this:

The terms Suspect and Prospect are used to refer to potential clients, but Suspect is someone who may be interested in your product, and Prospect is someone who is ready to buy it, but has not bought it yet

Typically, marketers use search engine optimization to get people to the top of the funnel (the awareness stage). Then email marketing, conversion optimization, etc. convert these people into leads (stages of interest and desire). Finally, paid advertising and retargeting drive those leads to a purchase (the action stage).

But here's an important point: building a complex, fancy funnel is not always necessary. Sometimes it is enough and simple.

And remember, no matter what strategies/tactics you use (or don't), you should always measure your success.

Conclusion

The above list of Internet marketing tools is by no means exhaustive, but it covers the most basic ones that are in demand today and will not lose their relevance in the near future.

If you do everything right, these techniques will definitely give their result.
Just do not forget that Internet marketing is in constant improvement and development. No one knows with 100% certainty which strategies will work ten years from now.

All you can do is educate yourself and always be aware of what works now and what will be useful tomorrow. Subscribe to our blog and stay up to date!

Different lines of business need different tools of Internet marketing. For example, for a hairdresser in a residential area, pages on Instagram and Vkontakte are enough. And for a flower delivery company, in addition to social media accounts, you need a website and contextual advertising.

We will briefly talk about the main and new tools of Internet marketing. We will explain how they work and highlight the main advantages and disadvantages.

Basic Internet Marketing Tools

Partner networks

Affiliate networks are traffic exchange systems that work on a referral model. In fact, these are automated loyalty and traffic acquisition programs.

Let's explain on the example of the largest referral platform . Online stores or services connected to the platform get the opportunity to offer users who have placed an order discounts or bonuses from partners. Everything happens automatically: discount offers appear on the order completion screen. Moreover, Get4Click excludes the possibility of offering discounts from competitors: the buyer of goods in an online pharmacy will not see discounts from another pharmacy, only offers from partners from other categories, for example, electronics stores, furniture stores, DIY goods.

The economy is next. Partners whose offers the store offers to customers pay to the platform. At the same time, they do not pay for impressions or clicks, but only for registered leads / subscriptions, completed and paid orders.

SEO

SEO is search engine optimization, a set of measures to raise a site in search results. SEO works simply: a user enters a search engine, enters a certain query and goes to the sites that appeared in the search results.

SEO is used by the vast majority of webmasters. All websites need optimization global network, because without it it is almost impossible to receive natural traffic without costs.

Contextual advertising - ads that correspond to the content of the page on which they are located. They are placed in search results or on thematic sites. A user who enters a certain request in the PS sees an advertisement and goes to the site. Or goes to the site from the relevant page of another web resource.

Email Marketing

E-mail marketing - interaction with users by e-mail. The client of the company who received the letter remembers it and goes to the site. Or a simple user learns about the services from the letter and orders them.

Banner and teaser advertising

Banner and teaser marketing tools - advertisements with banners and images and text, respectively. The user, being on the thematic site, sees your ad, clicks on it and gets to the advertised page.

Banners and teasers are used both by sellers of "doubtful" goods, and large companies with famous brand.

Viral advertising

Viral advertising - videos, pictures or text that are distributed by users themselves. People who see these ads in their newsfeed or featured content will definitely read them. But most often they will not become clients, because they were not originally your target audience.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is the publication of useful content on the website, in social networks, on third-party sites. A user who has read a useful article or collection can “convert” into a client or become a regular reader.

Everyone tries to publish interesting and useful content. Large promotion agencies, famous personalities, and companies have their own blogs.

New internet marketing tools

These are new or relatively new instruments that have become widespread no more than 2 years ago.

Native advertising

Native advertising is called "natural" advertising - one that adapts to the characteristics of the site and takes on the form of useful content. The user who sees it, at first does not understand that it is an advertisement, and reads an article or watches a video.

Messengers

Messengers are communication services that can be used in different ways. For example, to use them to communicate with clients: it will be more convenient for the user to communicate via a messenger on a smartphone than to turn on a laptop every time. Sometimes you can conduct mailing lists - a user who has received interesting information will most likely follow the link.

Messengers are still used by a few, most often by small companies.

What online marketing tools do you use and why? Share your opinion in the comments - we are very interested!

The main tools of marketing activities can be combined into a 4P complex (“four pi”)

Marketing mix - a set of marketing tools and methods that are used by an enterprise to achieve its market goals.

This set is often referred to as 4P ("four pi") - by the first letters of the following English words: product - product, price - price, place - place, promotion - promotion.

Managers use the product, price, place and system for the sale (distribution) of the product, communication and promotion of the purchase of the product as tools to influence target consumers, achieve the market goals of the enterprise. Target consumers, or the target market, is a set of those consumers who are of interest to a given enterprise, taking into account its market orientation, which are identified by the enterprise as potential buyers of its products.

In foreign theory and practice, it is the marketing mix, called marketing-mix, that receives special attention, and it is most often considered in the form of the “four pi” principle, which is a combination of the following four components:

PRODUKT is a product, that is, a set of "products and services" of an appropriate level of quality that the company offers to the target market. The actual quality of the goods can be changed. Its image can also be changed through variations in advertising and marketing. The idea of ​​a product and how it is perceived can be changed through the use of different packaging.

PRICE - the price, the amount of money that consumers must pay to receive the goods. The price can be changed in the direction of both stimulating and reducing demand, which is clearly manifested in the action of the price mechanism.

PLACE - here: channels (methods) of distribution, that is, the organization of the structure of commodity circulation, thanks to which the product becomes more accessible to potential buyers. The availability of a product (and hence the effort that a customer has to make to purchase a product) can be changed by more or less wide placement of the product or by changing the distribution channels used.

PROMOTION - promotion (stimulation) possible activity firms to introduce their product to the target market, disseminate information about its merits and convince target consumers to buy it. Number and location sales representatives can be changed. Advertising costs can be reduced, the content of advertising can also be changed. The audience that the advertisement affects can also be changed.

The marketing mix is ​​developed based on the results marketing research, which provide necessary information about the macro- and microenvironment, the market and their own capabilities.

The components of the marketing mix are: product policy, communication policy(promotion of goods on the market), marketing (distribution) policy, pricing policy and personnel policy Golubkov E.P. Fundamentals of Marketing: Textbook. - M.: Publishing house "Finpress", 2008.- 656s.

A useful property of the marketing mix is ​​the controllability of the elements. The marketer can manage each element with the aim of the required impact on demand, choose the most promising combinations of elements. The success of the marketing mix is ​​due, in part, to the fact that it combines four types of marketing strategies.

The main goal of developing a marketing mix is ​​to ensure sustainable competitive advantages for the company, gaining a strong market position. The marketing mix is ​​an operational activity, each component of which is the result of a deep economic analysis and commercial calculations are often based on economic and mathematical methods. To this we add the important role of mushrooms and marketing intuition, which in some situations is decisive. It is difficult to rank the components of the marketing mix according to their importance for the successful commercial activity of the company, since the achievement of the set goals is possible subject to the effectiveness of each of the four "p". However, the product and product policy almost always affects the nature and characteristics of the other components of the marketing mix.

When developing commodity policy the main problems are:

Innovation (creating new products or updating existing ones),

Ensuring the quality and competitiveness of goods,

Creation and optimization of the product range,

Solving trademark issues

Creation of effective packaging (for relevant types of products),

Analysis of the life cycle and its management.

Communication policy is a set of ways to promote a product to the market: Public relations (PR) - public relations, advertising, sales promotion, personal sales, specialized exhibitions. PR is commercial firm communications, long-term efforts aimed at creating and maintaining good relations and mutual understanding between the firm and its public. Advertising as opposed to PR - commercial activity, any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services of a specific customer Khrutsky V.E., Korneeva I.V. Modern Marketing: handbook for market research: Textbook. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - M.: Finance and statistics.-528s.

Marketing policy - the main task in developing a marketing policy is the choice of a distribution channel for goods (sales channel) and a decision on a sales strategy. The choice of a marketing channel is associated with the question of the method of marketing - through intermediaries (indirect marketing), without intermediaries (direct marketing). The distribution channel is, in essence, the way the goods move from the producer to the consumer. Along this path trade organizations or individuals assume (or transfer) ownership of the product before it is sold to the consumer.

There are three types of strategies:

Intensive sales is a marketing strategy consumer goods everyday demand, designed for a wide range of customers.

Exclusive sales - organized as the distribution of new products, which are positioned as exclusive expensive models.

Selective marketing - involves optimizing the number of resellers in such a way as to provide the required market coverage and at the same time control the work of the wholesaler or retailer.

Pricing policy as a component of the marketing mix is ​​developed taking into account the goals of the company, external and internal factors, influencing pricing, the nature of demand, the costs of production, distribution and sale of goods, the perceived and real value of the goods, the policies of competitors, etc. The development of a pricing policy includes setting the initial price for the product and timely price changes by bringing them in line with changing market conditions, the company's capabilities, its strategic goals and tasks.

Among the environmental factors affecting pricing policy companies, the main ones are: actions of the government, participants marketing channels, consumer reaction, competitor policy.

With a high degree of competition, prices are regulated by the market, price wars force weak firms out of the market. If competition is limited, then the degree of firm control over prices increases and market power decreases. Consumers influence both in terms of price elasticity of demand and behavioral characteristics, which is very important for targeted marketing.

Costs prevail among internal factors, and not all of their components are under the control of the company. With an increase in costs, price policy can be helped by other components of the marketing mix: narrowing the range due to unprofitable goods or their individual modifications, upgrading goods, repositioning them, and reducing the degree of differentiation.

Reducing costs does not always have a favorable effect on pricing policy.

Consider the methods of marketing activities. Specific methods include:

1) segmentation;

2) forecasting;

3) planning;

4) positioning;

5) method of situational analysis.

Market segmentation is one of the functions in the system of marketing activities and is associated with the implementation of work on the classification of buyers or consumers of goods that are on the market or displayed on it. After dividing the market into groups of consumers and identifying the opportunities for each of them, the company must evaluate their attractiveness and select one or more segments for development. When evaluating market segments, two factors must be considered: the overall attractiveness of the segment, as well as the company's goals and resources. When choosing target segments, company leaders decide whether it will focus on one segment or several, on a specific product or a specific market, or on the entire market at once. The offer of one product to one segment - concentrated segmentation - is more often used small firms who seek to gain an advantage over their competitors. Expansion of market segments, i.e. Offering one product to multiple segments allows the firm to expand the market for the product. By offering several products to one segment, i.e. resorting to assortment segmentation, they usually use related products. In differentiated segmentation, several different products are offered to several segments.

To receive you need to competitive advantage, each company must find its own ways to differentiate products.

Differentiation - the process of developing a number of essential features of the product, designed to distinguish it from competitors' products. The market offer can be differentiated in five areas: product, services, personnel, distribution channels, image.

Forecasting is one of the effective tools for the overall improvement of planning and management. The forecast is always a pre-planning stage of work and, moreover, the basis of one of the variants of the marketing program and plan, since its purpose is to give the most probable alternative paths for the development of the event under study for a given level of knowledge and the prerequisites laid down in the forecast. Making a decision in this regard is nothing more than a reasonable choice of one of the most probable forecast options.

It is obvious that there can be no opposition between a plan and a forecast. Forecasting is an integral scientific and analytical stage preceding planning, making a reasonable planned decision.

The commodity market forecast must meet the following requirements:

1) reliability, scientific validity, consistency, taking into account factors that may have an impact in the future;

2) reproducibility and evidence, i.e. obtaining the same result when re-development of the forecast, including on the basis of other methods, including subjectivity;

3) the alternative nature of the forecast with a clear formulation of all the hypotheses and assumptions underlying it;

4) verifiability of the forecast, i.e. availability of a reliable methodology for assessing the reliability and accuracy of the forecast in order to organize its correction;

5) clear and precise language of formulations, understandable for persons directly making decisions, which does not give rise to conflicting interpretations;

6) the planned nature of the forecast. The forecast must be timely and serve the purposes of improving management.

When developing a business plan within the framework of marketing, a special role is played by sales analysis and sales volume management, which underlies the management of production and sales of products. The following sales market research methods are used here.

Heuristic methods forecasting based on averaging information obtained by interviewing specialists.

trend forecasting on piece goods or groups of related goods Dichtl E., Hershgen H. Practical Marketing: Textbook / Per. with him. A.M. Makarova; Under the editorship of I.S. Minko. - M .: Higher School, 2007. - 255 p.:

N=N current *t, (1)

where t is the growth rate, which is found from the expression:

t=N current /N prev, (2)

where N current - the value of the indicator of the current year, N pre - the value of the indicator of the previous period.

Trial Marketing when a small batch of goods is produced, the sale of which is studied possible demand.

An important task of forecasting is to determine the pace and moment of transition to the next phase of the development of the cycle. To solve it, the whole system of conjunctural symptoms is needed, which will allow us to give a quantitative description of the dynamics of the transition from one phase of the cycle to another. This is the hardest part of the forecast.

Marketing planning in various organizations carried out in different ways. This concerns the content of the plan, the duration of the planning horizon, the sequence of development, the organization of planning. Thus, the scope of the content of the marketing plan for different companies is different: sometimes it is only slightly wider than the plan of the sales department. Individual organizations may not have a marketing plan at all, as an integral document. The only planning document for such organizations may be a business plan drawn up either for the organization as a whole or for individual areas of its development. In general, we can talk about the development of strategic, as a rule, long-term plans and tactical (current), as a rule, annual and more detailed marketing plans.

A strategic (long-term) marketing plan, developed for 3-5 years or more, characterizes the current marketing situation, describes the strategies for achieving the goals and those activities, the implementation of which leads to their achievement.

A marketing plan is developed for each strategic business unit of the organization and, in terms of formal structure, usually consists of the following sections: executive summary, current marketing situation, hazards and opportunities, marketing objectives, marketing strategy, action program, marketing budget and control.

Executive Summary - The opening section of a marketing plan that provides a brief summary of the main objectives and recommendations included in the plan.

The current marketing situation is the section of the marketing plan that describes the target market and the organization's position in it.

Hazards and Opportunities - A section of a marketing plan that identifies the major hazards that a product may encounter in the marketplace. The potential harm of each hazard is assessed, i.e. complications arising from unfavorable trends and events that, if not targeted by marketing efforts, can lead to the undermining of the viability of the product or even to its death.

Marketing goals characterize the target orientation of the plan and initially formulate the desired results of activities in specific markets. Usually goals try to express quantitatively. However, not all of them can be defined in this way.

The marketing strategy includes specific strategies for target markets, the marketing mix used, and marketing costs. Strategies developed for each market segment should address new and emerging products, pricing, promotion of products, bringing the product to consumers, and should indicate how the strategy responds to the dangers and opportunities of the market.

A program of action, sometimes simply referred to as a program, is a detailed program that shows what needs to be done, who should carry out the orders received and when, how much it will cost, what decisions and actions should be coordinated in order to fulfill the marketing plan.

Three types of marketing programs can be distinguished:

· the program of transfer of the enterprise as a whole to work in the conditions of marketing;

· a program for certain areas of the complex of marketing activities, and, above all, a program for the development of certain markets with the help of certain goods;

· the program of development of separate elements of marketing activity.

In the opinion of domestic marketers, the programs of entering the market with certain products are of the greatest interest to business leaders.

Usually, the program also briefly describes the goals that the program activities are aimed at achieving. In other words, the program is a set of activities that must be carried out by the marketing and other services of the organization so that the chosen strategies can achieve the goal of the marketing plan.

Marketing budget - a section of the marketing plan that reflects the projected values ​​of income, costs and profits. Costs are defined as the sum of the costs of production, distribution and marketing, the latter are detailed in this budget.

In practice, various methods are used to determine the marketing budget; Let's look at the most common:

1) “Funding from Opportunities”. This method is used by firms focused on production, not marketing.

2) The "fixed percentage" method is based on the deduction of a certain percentage of the previous or expected sales volume. This method is quite simple and often used in practice Bagiev GL, Tarasevich VM, Ann H. Marketing: Textbook for universities; Under the general editorship. Bagieva G.L.-M.: Publishing house "Economy", 2007.-703p..

3) The maximum spending method assumes that you need to spend as much money on marketing as possible. With all the apparent "progressiveness" of this approach, its weakness lies in the neglect of ways to optimize costs.

4) The method of accounting for the marketing program involves careful accounting of the costs of achieving specific goals, but not in themselves, but in comparison with the costs of other possible combinations of marketing tools.

Section - control - characterizes the procedures and methods of control that must be implemented to assess the level of success of the plan. Measurement of the success of the plan can be carried out for the annual time interval, and quarterly, and for each month or week.

All of the above sections characterize both strategic and tactical plans, but the main difference between them lies in the degree of detail in the development of individual sections of the marketing plan.

Marketing planning is increasingly being used by many firms in the Russian Federation, although it meets many opponents. There are cases when enterprises, having adopted this powerful tool market economy, subsequently abandoned it. There is a perfectly logical explanation for such facts. The fact is that the system of planning in general and strategic planning in particular is not subject to blind copying, which was observed in most cases. Every company has its own specifics related to organizational structure, values, technology, personnel, scientific potential, etc. Thus, organizations to achieve maximum economic effect, needs to be adapted existing system marketing planning to the environment in which it operates.

After defining target segment market, the enterprise must study the properties and image of competitors' products and evaluate the position of its product in the market. Having studied the positions of competitors, the company decides on the positioning of its product. Product positioning is the way in which consumers identify a particular product by its most important characteristics.

In practice, product positions are determined using positioning maps, which are a two-dimensional matrix of different pairs of characteristics.

A number of positioning strategies are used in order to form and fix certain perceptions in the minds of consumers, for example, positioning based on certain product advantages, positioning by competitor, positioning by product category, etc.

Positioning is based on associative links between the product and product characteristics or other positioning factors. Successful companies tend to maintain a clear differentiating advantage and avoid sudden changes in their market position.

Naturally, positioning cannot be associated with consumer deception and misinformation; it can come off once, after which the manufacturer will face failure and loss.

Properly organized market positioning is a prerequisite for effective marketing mix development.

Substantial benefits for marketing management and results monitoring economic activity enterprises can provide a so-called situational analysis. Its purpose is to provide the management and heads of individual departments with a “photo portrait” of the situation in which the enterprise is at the time of the analysis. The situational analysis covers the entire activity of the enterprise in a complex and should ultimately lead to the setting of new goals, the assessment of ways to achieve them, decision-making, the development of appropriate strategies, etc.

Situational analysis - exclusively effective method control over the position of the enterprise in a competitive market (Appendix 1). Well-tested, it will allow management to get rid of illusions and take a sober look at the true state of affairs in the enterprise, outline new ones, promising directions development of core business activities, including foreign markets Yasheva G.A. Marketing Efficiency: Methodology, Estimates and Results //Practical Marketing. - 2001. - No. 5. - S. 9. . If an enterprise has branches, representative offices or an agent commercial network, including abroad, then a situational analysis according to a complete or slightly modified program should also be carried out by the heads of the distribution network.

To conduct a situational analysis, the enterprise accumulates information from:

government sources;

Industry and regional information centers;

International information centers;

Periodical press, materials of exhibitions, conferences;

Surveys of contact audiences;

other sources.

Situational analysis at the enterprise is carried out by direct examination of the enterprise, assessment of the technical and economic level of departments and jobs, preparation of materials to identify the goals of the strategic development of the company. Questions of situational analysis should be formulated in the following areas: markets; products; "mirror" of the new product ( general characteristics, market characteristic, production characteristic, market test of the product); buyers; internal and external environment; competition and competitors; marketing goals; marketing program; organization of marketing; prices; commodity circulation; organization of trade; formation of demand and sales promotion; package; service.

The main objectives of the marketing synthesis stage are:

Determination of the goals of the strategic development of the company, arising from the results of the situational analysis;

Evaluation of the company's strategic development goals in terms of market conditions and ensuring the company's survival;

Decision making for strategic planning. This or that strategic decision can take place on the basis of comprehensive analysis the most significant goals. It is necessary to involve the most qualified employees of the company in the development of strategic decisions. Their work can be organized according to the principle brainstorming, allowing you to get more reliable forecasts possible consequences forthcoming strategic decisions. The main tasks of strategic marketing planning are:

1) promotion of marketing strategies to achieve the chosen goals;

2) choice of preferred strategy;

3) making decisions on the development of tactics for long-term development.

So, for the effective functioning of an enterprise, the achievement of its commercial success, a coherent system of economic actions is required, which is called marketing, the study of high-quality organization and the implementation of marketing functions. The enterprise is obliged to produce competitive, consumer-oriented goods, services and sell them in as soon as possible with good service and low cost.

But even in the production of competitive goods, it is necessary to rationalize the sale of products in order to create a favorable image of the enterprise, faster sales of goods, reduce and optimize distribution costs, which make up the bulk of the company's expenses. The most important criterion for the success of the company is the size of its profits. Without making a profit, the further functioning of the enterprise is impossible. An essential role in increasing the profit of the enterprise is played by the reduction of distribution costs, which are reduced by rationalizing the entire work of the company, through various marketing activities. Therefore, the system of actions within the framework of marketing, along with strengthening positions in the market, increasing the competitiveness of goods, is aimed at improving circulation, reducing its costs and rationalizing the sale of products.